High school students look to the skies in new youth birding club

‘Bringing the average age of birding down by 20 years’

Young birders count gulls at Blue Hill Harbor. From left, Hancock County Young Birders Club organizer James Longo with students Hazel Kimball and Adams Stratton. Photo by Steele Hays.

By Steele Hays

With financial support from the local Audubon Society chapter, James Longo of Blue Hill is trying to contribute to a national trend—attracting more young people to birdwatching.  

There are 45 million birdwatchers in the US, but their average age is 55, and climbing. But in the last few years, there’s been a sharp uptick in the number of young people becoming interested in birding. 

“It would be a shame if birding were not passed on to the next generation,” Longo told The Rising Tide. 

That passion spurred Longo to start the Hancock County Young Birders Club earlier this year. He serves on the board of the Audubon Society’s Downeast Chapter, and persuaded the group to provide a supply of binoculars and financial support to launch the club.

Since June, Longo and a group of high school students from George Stevens Academy and the Harbor School have headed out one day a week to look for birds and document their observations. The group’s goal is expressed on the home page of their Instagram account: “Bringing the average age of birding down by 20 years.” Their account may be found at @hc_youngbirdersclub.

The students themselves manage the Instagram account, posting photos and videos of their weekly outings. Attendance on the weekly trips has ranged from four to 12 students. 

On a recent November outing, Longo, who is also a part-time track and field coach at GSA, led the group to the Blue Hill wharf. Students used binoculars and two tripod-mounted spotting scopes to identify six species, including 70 herring gulls and ring-billed gulls resting on a rocky island just offshore. 

The participants on this outing were all GSA students: Hazel Kimball, Adams Stratton, Ripley King-Ofsiany and Luke Lamontanero.  Their motivations for joining the club varied.

“I was just bored,” Stratton said. “I thought this would be fun, and I’m enjoying it a lot.” 

“I’ve always liked birding and I wanted to learn more,” Kimball said. 

The next stop was The Nub, the relatively new preserve overlooking both the Mill Pond and Conary Cove near Blue Hill Falls.  

“What are we hearing?” Longo asked the students as they looked over the Mill Pond. “Red-breasted nuthatch,” one of them volunteered correctly. 

“I also hear a brown creeper,” Longo said. “Gold star to whoever can spot the brown creeper.” 

Longo provides the students with plenty of tips and advice, including memory aids to help differentiate between similar bird species. And he regularly prompts the students to offer their own suggestions.

“Herring gulls are just a hair bigger than ring-billed gulls,” Lamontanero volunteered, winning a positive response from others. “Good one.”

Hazel Kimball and Ripley King-Ofsiany, both GSA students, looking for a tiny brown creeper.

Moments later, the call of a loon was heard.  

“I guarantee there’s an eagle nearby,” Longo said. “That’s the sound loons make when they see an eagle. They hate eagles because they attack young loons. I speak loon.”  Within seconds, a Bald eagle was spotted flying overhead. 

Thanks to efforts like Longo’s across the country, the number of young birders is growing. National surveys by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service show that the number of young adults who watch any kind of wildlife has tripled within the last decade.

Technology has made it easier than ever to get into birding.  Birders can use mobile phone apps to help identify birds and bird calls.  Hashtags like #birdwatching and #birding generate millions of views on TikTok.

Longo believes that the birders club is off to a good start, but he is eager to draw participants from additional high schools across Hancock County. For more information about the Young Birders Club, email deaudubon@gmail.com 

Editor’s note: Steele Hays has long been a birdwatcher. He recently joined the board of Downeast Audubon.